WWE Exclusive: Kane on SEE NO EVIL 2 and WWE Network

Glenn Jacobs is Kane but we’ll call him Kane for the purpose of this interview. The WWE superstar made his motion picture debut in 2006’s horror movie See No Evil 2. Now that WWE Studios is a major Hollywood player, they brought back their slasher franchise, with Jen and Sylvia Soska directing the sequel.

Set the night of Jacob Goodnight (Kane)’s massacre, a birthday party for a mortician (Danielle Harris) turns deadly. Who would’ve thought? We spoke with Kane about his sequel and the future of WWE. See No Evil 2 is now available on DVD, Blu-ray and digital/VOD sources.

Nuke the Fridge: It’s been eight years. Did you ever think you’d see Jacob Goodnight again?

Kane: No. After two years, I was like, “Okay, there won’t be a sequel.” I think what happened was things changing here at WWE Films, we were going through different directions and initiatives. When Michael [Luisi] took over, his particular vision is to produce more genre movies, to use the WWE superstars in roles which they will be successful at, and make the movies quickly. We shot it in 15 days. I think that was more the reason for the timing of the sequel than anything else.

Nuke: In the ring, you’re used to being center stage. Did you have to get used to being in the shadows as Jacob Goodnight?

Kane: [Laughs] It’s definitely different. In WWE we have a live audience that feeds off of us and we feed off of them. They have a lot of energy and a lot of adrenaline and all that type of stuff. You don’t have that on a soundstage. Also WWE, we do things in one take and we do it live. We don’t have that luxury of doing more than one take. However, it’s also very difficult actually in movies for me anyway to do take after take after take, because I’m so used to doing things once. It’s like, “Okay, that was good, right? Let’s move on.” It doesn’t quite work that way.

Nuke: You do so much work physically as Jacob Goodnight, but we only see glimpses of it in the shadows. Is that different for you?

Kane: Yeah, but then we do have a couple scenes which, once he gets revealed, especially the fight scenes, where it’s all there. Again, that’s different as well because it’s all shot through various camera angles which means different takes. The cut ins and the closeups and all that sort of thing, so it is a lot different.

Kane: Comparatively, yes. Of course, when the movie was cast, that was part of it. With the exception of Greyston Holt who’s a pretty big guy, everybody else was pretty small. That helped Jacob look even bigger.

Nuke: In the ring, you’re a good guy, right?

Kane: I’ve been a good guy. Right now I’m a bad guy. It just depends.

Nuke: Were you a good guy when you were first cast as Jacob Goodnight?

Kane: Yes.

Nuke: Was that tricky to have you play the slasher killer when in the ring you were a hero?

Kane: No, because they’re two different characters. It’s just like any actor. You play different characters at different times so it doesn’t really matter.

Nuke: Were you disappointed that they minimized the taking people’s eyes this time?

Kane: No, because it doesn’t fit in this movie. It’s different. It’s just a different movie. It really is a standalone film compared to the original See No Evil. The eye thing, the specific reason for it, you see it and I see the sin and all that stuff. That was the reason for it in the first movie. This one’s just a little different too. With the demise of Jacob’s mother he’s just on a rampage. Whatever reason was in him is gone now. Despite the fact that his mother was the controlling influence and a very bad influence, whatever control that there was is now gone. You’re dealing with a psychopath who is going through a psychotic breakdown. It’s really interesting on a number of levels I guess.

Nuke: It is a standalone but I love that it takes place the next day.

Kane: Right, actually that night, right?

Nuke: Did you get pretty good with the chain on the first movie, and did it come back like riding a bicycle?

Kane: [Laughs] Yeah, actually I could use the chain as a lasso, but we only used it once in this movie so I didn’t have to do a whole lot with it. It’s funny you mentioned that. In the first movie, yes, I went out and practiced throwing a chain at a target.

Nuke: Was it hard to play dead while Katie Isabelle was straddling you?

Kane: Yes. Not only that, but her whole whistling and all the stuff she was doing, it was very difficult to not at least smirk or bust out laughing. In fact, I think we had to bust a couple takes because I just couldn’t do it.